Air distributor for space heater



Jan- 7, 1941- c. A. SCHMIDT 2,227,765

AIR DISTRIBUTOR FOR SPACE HEATER Filed Sept. 25, 19559 z/v VIS/VTM: 9 @mi fi. .5M/war Patented Jan. 7, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AIR DISTRIBUTOR FOR SPACE HEATER Carl A. Schmidt, St. Paul, Minn., assignor to Lydon-Bricher Manufacturing Co., St. Paul, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota Application September 25, 1939, Serial No. 296,349

9 Claims. (Cl. 126-67) This invention relates to space heaters and means wherein air can be directed either upwardly more particularly to space heaters having means from the top of the heater or downwardly past for variably controlling the flow of heated air the combustion chamber and out of the bottom of from such heaters. the heater.

While my invention is applicable to different Another object of the invention is to provide types of space heaters it is of particular importflow control means which can be incorporated ance in connection with heaters which are placed with a conventional type of heater and wherein a in the rooms of homes as distinguished from cushioned air impeller'is; provided in such a manfurnaces in the basements of buildings, and such ner that vibration from the air impeller is not heaters utilize solid or liquid fuel which is burned transmitted to the heater casing, and furthermore, in a combustion chamber surrounded by a spaced wherein the impeller and directional control casing. The casing is open at the bottom and means are arranged to t heaters having casings circulation by convection is induced by the radiof different shapes. ated heat of the combustion chamber in the These and other objects and advantages of the l5 air space between said chamber and the outer invention will more fully appear from the follow- 15 casing which generally has a relatively fiat top ing description made in connection with the acwith an outlet utilizing a substantial portion of companying drawing, wherein. like reference said top. In these heaters the warm air rises and characters refer to the same parts throughout the the cool air is forced down to the floor whence views, and, in which:

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it is again taken up by the draft in the air space Fig. 1 is a front elevation of one form of my in- 20 for reheating. vention with portions thereof broken away to One of the principal disadvantages of space show interior construction; heaters of this general type is that the tempera- Fig. 2 is a top plan of the structure shown in ture in the upper portion of a room is much higher Fig. 1; than it is adjacent the oor due to the inability Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail'of one 25 of the natural draft to properly mix the cool of the vibration absorbing devices;

and warm air in the room. Thus considerable Fig. 4 is a section taken approximately on the heat is wasted. Furthermore, it is diiiicult to line 4-4 of Fig. 3; properly distribute heat over the area of a room Fig. 5 is a front elevation of another form of my or group of rooms. invention with the lower portion broken away; 30

One of the objects of my invention is to pro- Fig. 6 is a reduced vertical section through a vide a space heater wherein the iiow of warm air structure as exemplified in Fig. 5; and from the heater can be directionally controlled to Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary section of a more effectively distribute such warm air throughvibration damper and mounting which is appliout the cubic content of a room or series of rooms. cable to both forms shown. 35

Another object of the invention is to provide In Fig. 1 there is shown a space heater having a a construction wherein a conventional space substantially closed combustion chamber 8 surheater with no ow control can be converted into rounded by a casing 9 which is spaced from said a unit with such flow control without in any combustion chamber to provide vertical air space manner altering the,` construction of the original I0. The combustion chamber 8, of course, is 40 heater. adapted to contain a suitable burner or fire pot Another object of the invention is to provide a structure which is accessible through an opening flow control wherein a flow of heated air can be in the outer casing which is closed by a door ll. directed upwardly or horizontally outwardly from The combustion chamber should also be connected the top of the heater and also wherein air can to a Ilue not shown. The lower part of the casing 45 be directed downwardly through a portion of the 9 is open and the spaces between the legs I2 proheater air space so that warm air will issue from vide what is normally used as a plurality of inlets the base of the heater While at the same time communicating with the air space l0. The upper cool air is drawn upwardly past the combustion portion of the casing 9 is open and customarily is chamber through another portion of the air space provided with a grill-work I3 to provide a decora- 50 and furthermore, wherein additional heated air tive finish for the tcp of the heater and also to can be directed outwardly from the upper portion support articles for heating if desired. Custoof the heater. marily the upper portion of the casing is provided A still further object of the invention is to prowith an inwardly extending shoulder or ange Il.

vide a heater in combination with air flow control In Figs. 1 and 2 there is shown a substantially 55 rectangular cap I which has vertical side walls and a top portion with a large circular aperture thereon. Furthermore, one or more of the side walls of the cap I5 are provided with louvers I6. A plurality of metal clips I1 are secured on the inner faces of the vertical side walls of the cap I5 and as shown in Fig. 2 these clips are arranged in pairs on each side wall and are spaced a considerable distance apart. The clips are somewhat in the form of an inverted U and are adapted to grip strips of felt IB or other suitable cushioning material. The felt strips or cushions extend downwardly slightly below the edges of the side walls of the cap I5 and are the only elements associated with the cap assembly which come into contact with the main heater casing 9, these cushions resting upon the flanges or shoulders I4 at the top of the heater casing. Fig. 1 shows the heater casing with a relatively at upper portion and inwardly turned flange or shoulder, but should the upper edge of each of the faces of the casing 9 curve or bulge upwardly between the corners of the casing, the cap I5 can still be properly positioned. This is due to the spaced points of contact afforded by the cushioning strips I8.

The large circular aperture in the top of the cap I5 is provided with a rotatable ring composed of a pair of annular elements I9 and 20. The ring element 20 has an oiset 2l which provides a space between it and the upper ring I9 in which the edge defining the aperture in the cap is relatively loosely received. Extending through the rings I9 and 20 at opposite points thereon are studs 22 which extend into blocks 23 located on the upper side of the top ring I9. The stud 22 is passed through a rubber or other suitable resilient grommet 24 which is utilized also to contact the under face of each of the blocks 23 so that said blocks and studs cannot come into metal-to-metal contact with the ring elements I9 and 29. Extending horizontally through the one of the blocks 23 is a bolt 25 which, as shown in Fig. 7, is threaded at one end to receive a thumb nut 26. The opposite end of the bolt is provided with a tapered portion 21 which ts in a frustoconical countersink in said block 23. An annular hub 28 is secured to or forms an integral part with the tapered head 21 and said hub preferably is provided with radial threaded sockets 29 at spaced points around said hub. These sockets are adapted to selectively receive a combined handle and impeller positioning element 30 whose function will be explained below.

An angular bracket 3I extends axially from the hub 28 inwardly above the opening in the cap I5 as shown best in Fig. 2. A complementary bracket 32 which is rotatably mounted at one end in the left-hand block 23 in Fig. 2 extends inwardly over the opening in the cap I5 in a manner similar to bracket 3|. These two brackets are secured as by welding to a cage 33 which is mounted around an impeller blade 34, the latter being driven by an electric motor 35 which is supplied with energy by conductor 36.

In Figs. 5 and 6 there is shown a heater casing 31 which is provided with an apertured top. The structure of the casing 31 is generally similar to the casing 9 above described except that no grillwork similar to the grill I3 is used. Louvers 38 are formed in one or more upper side panels of the casing 31 and these are generally similar to the louvers I6 in the cap I5 shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 shows a ring structure 39 which is conring structure carries a pair of blocks 40 in the same manner as the mounting of the blocks 23 above. The fan or impeller indicated generally at 4I is the same as the impeller previously described, and it is also run by an electric motor.

With the impeller in the position shown in the drawing the combined stop and handle 30 extends from the hub in the general direction of the motor 35. The weight of the motor will maintain the impeller unit in this position. As is clearly shown the impeller blade unit extends partially above the top of the cap or of the heater casing as in Figs. 5 and 6, and another portion of the impeller unit is down below the top and in the air space provided by the casing and the cap. The arrows in Fig. 6 illustrate the flow of cool and heated air with the impeller in that position. The path of the air from the :door is shown to lie in the air space between the combustion chamber and the casing at at least one side of the combustion chamber, the air being drawn upwardly in the air space due to convection and also the action of the impeller. Heated air is directed substantially horizontally outwardly from a point immediately above the top of the heater and also downwardly through a portion of the heater air space to be directed out of the heater casing adjacent the floor and a certain portion of the heated air will also flow out of the louvers to be directed outwardly and downwardly in a diagonal direction.

'The impeller may be changed in its position so that it will direct air upwardly through the aperture in the cap or the casing top or it may be directed downwardly so that air will be drawn in the top and forced downwardly through the heater air space to be ejected from the bottom adjacent the floor.

At times it is desirable to place the impeller so that its path of air flow will be directed in intermediate directions to secure diierent combinations of flow and for that reason I provided a frusto-conical bolt heat 21 and wing nut 26 so that the impeller can be frictionally retained in any number of diierent positions. This fact coupled with the fact that the impeller and its support are rotatable as a unit on the rings about the openings in the casing top afford a universal movement for any type or adjustment desired. Furthermore, the combined stop and handle 30 can be moved to different positions with respect to the hub 28 to which it is detachably secured and it should be pointed out that the element 30 will positively retain the impeller in certain positions so that the electric cord 36 will not become entangled with the impeller in the event the friction retaining means should not be tightened suflciently and slippage should occur.

The resilient grommets 24 are extremely important since they practically eleminate vibration in the heater casing or the cap I5 which would otherwise be caused by the rotation of the motor or impeller. Heaters of this general type are usually provided with rather lightly constructed casings and any considerable degree of vibration of the impeller would Otherwise be transmitted to the casing and cause objectionable noise. The cushion strips I8 in addition to providing rests for the cap I5 are, of course, also very effective in the prevention of the transmission of vibration to the heater casing.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have v provided a space heater construction wherein it is possible to accurately control the distribution of air in an enclosure to secure not only uni- Cil form distribution but maximum heating eftliciency. The ilow of heated air can be controlled in a number of different ways to suit any desired need. It is a structure which can be utilized in combination with a conventional heater having the usual air space between the casing and the combustion chamber and it can also be incorporated with a heater casing built especially to carry out the aims of my invention. It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the various parts without departing from the scope of my invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a space heater, a combustion chamber, a casing around said chamber and spaced therefrom to provide an air passage in heat exchange relation to said combustion chamber, an impeller, an impeller support mounted on said heater, said support being movable to position said impeller with its path of air flow directed partially within and partially without said casing.

2. The structure in claim 1 and said impeller support being rotatable with respect to said casing.

3. In a space heater, a combustion chamber, a casing around said combustion ,ohamber and spaced therefrom to provide an air passage, said casinghaving an apertured top, and a directional air impeller supported by said top and swingable on a horizontal axis, said impeller, in one position, having a portion of its air ow path directed out of the aperture in the top of said casing and another portion of its air flow path directed into a portion of the space between said combustion chamber and said casing.

4. The structure in claim 3 and means for releasably securing said impeller im different positions on its horizontal axis.

5. In a space heater, a combustiony chamber, a casing around said combustion chamber and spaced therefrom to provide an air passage, said casing having an apertured top, and an air impeller supported at the top of said casing and adjustable to a plurality of positions to direct its flow, in one position, outwardly through the aperture in the top of said casing, in a second position to direct its flow downwardly through the aperture in said casing top and through the air space between said combustion chamber and casing, and in a third position to direct its flow partially outwardly through the aperture in said casing top and partially downwardly through the air space between said combustion chamber and said casing.

6. The structure in claim 5 and said impeller having a support rotatable on horizontal and vertical axes.

7. In a space heater, a combustion chamber, a casing around said combustion chamber and spaced therefrom to provide ani air passage, said casing having an aperture in its top, an apertured cap member having downwardly extending walls and resting upon the top of said casing, an air impeller, a support for said impeller connected to said cap and adjustably maintaining said impeller adjacent the opening in said cap, said support being movable to position said irnpeller with its path of flow directed partially outside of said cap and partially within said cap.

8. The structure in claim 7 and said cap having a plurality of resilient cushioning elements at its lower edge and in contact with the top of said casing.

9. In a space heater, a combustion chamber, a casing around said combustion chamber and spaced therefrom to provide an air passage, said casing having an open bottom, an inwardly extending lange at the top of said casing above said combustion chamber and denng an opening, a support carried by the flanged top of said casing, an air impeller carried by said support, said support and air impeller being adjustable relative to said casing and the aperture in its top to provide for an impelled oW of air upwardly in said casing and out of the aperture in its top, downwardly in said casing and into the aperture in said casing top or a combined' flow outwardly from the top of said casing and downwardly in the space between said casing and said combustion chamber.

CARL A. SCHMIDT. 

